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Immunization Updates for Pharmacists

Whether you have been administering immunizations for years, or recently completed immunization training, it’s important to keep up-to-date on changes in vaccine products and ACIP (CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) immunization recommendations. As a reminder, a pharmacist who plans to administer immunizations in Ohio must be able to document that he/she meets the training criteria for each immunization that will be administered.Ohio Administrative Code, paragraph (C) of rule 4729-5-36 requires a pharmacist or pharmacy intern to complete additional coursework if his/her current certification does not include training on that particular immunization.

In addition to a board-approved Pharmacist Training Program for Immunizations, OPA offers a variety of ways to keep your practice current:

Home-study continuing education articles on vaccine recommendations and products (these also qualify as supplemental training for vaccines that were not included in a pharmacist/intern’s, previous training)

• Immunizations for Selected Vaccine-Preventable Diseases provides background information on immunizations and vaccine-preventable diseases and a working knowledge of influenza, pneumococcal, hepatitis A & B, meningococcal, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, zoster, measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines. Note: This article is a component of the current OPF Pharmacist Training Program for Immunizations. Credit: 0.4 CEU

• Immunizations for HPV, Varicella, Hib, and Polio

Note: This article is a component of the current OPF Pharmacist Training Program for Immunizations. Credit: 0.15 CEU

• Recognizing and Preventing Vaccine Errorsprovides information on identification of vaccine errors, including “errors of omission,” and strategies to prevent them.

Note. This article was included in the June 2017 Ohio Pharmacist journal. Credit: 0.15 CEU

Protocol package which includes draft protocols and administration records for each of the vaccines in the recommended immunization schedules for persons seven years of age and older. This package was updated as of August 2017 to include the new ACIP recommendations for the 2017-18 influenza season, hepatitis B, HPV, meningococcal and Tdap vaccines.

A second protocol package is available which includes protocols and administration records for travel (cholera, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, yellow fever) and rabies vaccines.

Webinars to meet the annual training requirement of OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard. Sessions are available and can be found on the web calendar.